Community News
NEWLY RENOVATED BASKETBALL
COURTS AT THE ASTORIA HOUSES
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Councilman Costa
C o n s t a n t i n i d e s
unveiled the newly
renovated basket-ball
court at the
Astoria Houses on
July 20.
The councilman, along with mem-bers
of the Astoria Houses Tenant As-sociation,
the New York City Housing
Authority, (NYCHA) Urban Upbound
and HANAC Cornerstone gathered at
Astoria Houses (4-25 Astoria Blvd.)
to showcase the renovations made to
the complex’s basketball court.
Improvements to the Astoria court
included new asphalt, newly painted
shot lines and lanes, steel benches,
a new water fountain, an electronic
scoreboard and a shot clock.
“This beautiful, state-of-the-art
basketball court will provide genera-tions
of Astoria Houses residents
with a safe environment to gather
and play,” Constantinides said. “Three
years after we first secured funding
for this much-needed refurbishing, I
am happy to see this is a slam dunk
for the community.”
Funding for the basketball court
came from the approximately
$600,000 that the councilman has al-located
for this crucial community use.
“It’s been a long time coming. It’s
been a lot of work. It’s been a lot of
hands in the pot, but we have arrived,”
said Claudia Coger, president of the
Astoria Houses Tenant Association.
26 AUGUST 2018 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
“The Council member has been excel-lent,
that he’s given us his attention
here not just by words but by deeds.
He has stuck to his word. And we
are still going forward. There’s a lot
more to come.”
Astoria Houses is a 2,400-unit
NYCHA apartment complex located in
the Hallets Point Peninsula. Since he
was elected in 2014, Constantinides
has been taking part in broader invest-ments
on the Peninsula, including
the reopening of a boat landing that
brought ferry service back to Astoria
after more than a century and new
developments that are presenting
more options for affordable housing.
In total, $25 million has been secured
over the last few years for investments
on the Peninsula.
In addition to the basketball court,
construction on a multipurpose court
will begin this fall at the Astoria Hous-es.
The councilman has also secured
$250,000 in the Fiscal Year 2019
budget for new lighting and additional
security cameras at the complex’s
community center.
“In the midst of the negative things
happening at NYCHA, I’m glad that
we still have advocates like Ms. Co-ger
and Councilman Constantinides
that somehow manage to bring a ray
of hope to our young people,” said
Bishop Mitchell Taylor, co-founder
and CEO of Urban Upbound. “This
newly renovated basketball court and
playground will be a beacon of posi-tive
activities for the young people in
Astoria.”
Photo courtesy of the office of Councilman Costa Con-stantinides
/www.qns.com
